Exploring the dynamics of agency in old industrial towns in Wales

Saunders, Anna 2023. Exploring the dynamics of agency in old industrial towns in Wales. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University.

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Abstract

To this point, dominant discourses in regional development theories and related policies have been, to a great extent, informed by the experiences of larger urban areas which have offered very little to smaller, more peripheral regions. Meanwhile, existing debates around change in these places have tended to focus on the lack of agency which has fuelled a culture of development that has seen change being done to people in places as opposed to with them. As a result, such approaches have contributed to a growing sense of mistrust between communities and governing authorities and this, in turn, has made the process of implementing change even more difficult. This research addresses and challenges the limitations of these existing theories and policy approaches by trialling a new, more granular, and grounded approach to framing agency. It explores how agents of change work within and across boundaries, their perceptions about change as well as their role within the process, and how what they choose to value effects it. By examining the dynamics of agency in two small towns located in old industrial regions in Wales, this research focuses on the increased prominence and influence of alternative approaches to change and brings to light new development paradigms around well-being (rather than growth) and culture (rather than jobs). The stories of these towns are explored through four chapters – two for each case study. The first chapters present their political, economic, and cultural stories as a way of contextualising the process of change. This is then followed by a brief overview of the selected development projects. The second chapters explore the dynamics of agency in these places which help to explain how and why these development projects came to be. This innovative approach to exploring change in old industrial towns highlights the need to consider more actively how agents might draw upon, use, and indeed propel change as opposed to focusing on how they might react to it.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Geography and Planning (GEOPL)
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	regional development, peripheral regions, old industrial, agency, change, agents of change, wellbeing, growth, decline, Wales, Wellbeing of Future Generations Act
Funders:	Volkswagen Foundation
Last Modified:	17 Nov 2023 09:14
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/163934

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